EU proposes easing annual carbon emission restrictions

The EU Commission proposed easing annual carbon emission reduction targets, lowering the Linear Reduction Factor from 4.3% to 3.7% for 2031-2035 and 1.7% for 2036-2040, whilst extending free allocation to industry and requiring member states to spend 50% of ETS revenues on decarbonisation investments. If you build carbon removal or industrial decarbonisation tech, the EU just created a €6bn+ subsidy pool (free allocation extension) and mandatory investment requirement (50% of ETS revenues) that member states must deploy into your sector. The slower reduction trajectory also gives heavy industry breathing room to buy rather than build solutions.